It was part plant and all monster, with crustacean arms and chainsaw teeth. Humanity had never seen anything like it. But whatever it was, It Conquered the World!

Producer-director Roger Corman tapped into the Red Scare of the ’50s with this harrowing tale of a vege-alien from Venus who can bend human minds to his evil will. The terror begins when the monster makes contact with a well-meaning American scientist (Lee Van Cleef, the spaghetti-western star who here packs a microscope instead of a six-gun). The scientist guides the monster to earth… but regrets his hospitality when the newcomer sends out hordes of bats whose bites reduce the townsfolk to zombies.

Peter Graves and Beverly Garland are among those who battle back in this top sci-fi thriller that critic Leonard Maltin calls “well acted… one of Corman’s best.” A creepy monster, blood-sucking bats, screaming victims and earnest men of science: now that’s a Drive-In Classic!